ABSTRACT
Popular music has an important role in Bande de Filles. This chapter centres on a pivotal scene in which the girls lip sync and dance to Rihanna’s track ‘Diamonds.’ With its use of blue lighting and direct address to the camera, the scene’s aesthetics accord with those of the contemporary music video, marking an uncannily utopian moment at the apex of the girls’ friendship. In addition to Rihanna, the film also sees the girls dancing to J Dash’s ‘Wop’ on two occasions. Sciamma’s long term collaborator, Para One, marks changes in Marième’s life with subtle changes to his pulsating score. While the girls’ dance to ‘Diamonds’ provides a euphoric moment, the quality of the music itself is melancholic, demonstrating the tension between the expectations of EDM pop and Rihanna’s own complex star persona. Dance is emphasised throughout the film as a way of queerly orienting the girls’ bodies towards one another. These tracks have the effect of moving the girls beyond their specific French context to a transnational model of girlhood that resonates elsewhere.
